Postdoctoral researcher Dr. Kim Baldwin is no stranger to CERMES. Kim first joined the department in 2001 as a student of the MSc Coastal and Marine Management program. She has continued to work for the University since then, conducting a variety of field research activities including environmental impact assessments, marine mapping, monitoring surveys and geospatial analysis. Between 2006 and 2012 she embarked on her PhD, which included the development of a transboundary marine resource and space-use PGIS (Participatory Geographic Information System) for the countries of St. Vincent and Grenada, and the subsequent development of a MSP (marine spatial plan) for the transboundary Grenadine island chain. Kim began teaching the Geoinformatics for Environmental Management course at CERMES in 2008, received her University Teaching and Learning certificate from UWI in 2013, and continues to supervise MSc and PhD research students.

As a broadly-trained fisheries scientist and marine ecologist, Dr. Baldwin’s interests have diversified over the years. Kim seeks to bridge the practical, methodological and theoretical by drawing on several disciplines including geography, information systems, anthropology, sociology, governance, natural resource management and ecology. Her multi-disciplinary background and strong belief in the importance of applying a holistic approach drives the topic of her Post-Doctoral research at CERMES, which examines the application of remote sensing, information technologies, participatory mapping methods, spatial analysis, and data management considerations for the Caribbean.
Dr. Baldwin’s applied research at CERMES over the years includes the examination of practical case studies. The first, in 2015, was the creation of a comprehensive marine habitat map of the coastal environment of Barbados based on Lidar reflectance data, satellite imagery and underwater video survey data.

Since 2016, Kim’s research has focused on the benefits of applying drone technologies and geoinformatics to better support environmental management initiatives across the Caribbean. Subsequently, Kim has developed, overseen and provides training and advisory services for the CERMES UWI Drone Unit. In addition, her research involves the development of commercial UAS Policies and Standard Operating Procedures including data management protocols for environmental organizations across the Caribbean.

Since 2018, Kim has been working with CERMES to identify how drone technologies, web-mapping dashboards and analysis tools can be leveraged to help manage the impacts of sargassum influxes and improve the implementation of adaptation efforts across the Caribbean. Dr. Baldwin has recently developed a sargassum ‘Drone Monitoring Protocol’ and in 2022, she will be conducting training courses to enable SargAdapt teams to remotely collect regional sargassum monitoring data and information on influxes occurring across the Caribbean.

Kim is also the Director of Marine Spatial Information Solutions Inc. (MarSIS), which provides practical solutions to connect people with technology to create collaborative environmental information. Services include marine management and spatial planning applications, participatory research, GIS including data conversion and geodatabase construction, spatial modelling and advanced analysis, as well as drone mapping and monitoring services. Additionally, Dr. Kim Baldwin offers a series of practical (in-person and virtual) training courses on drone flying, mapping and monitoring strategies, GIS, participatory mapping, spatial analysis, information creation and collaborative sharing tools.

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Dr. Kimberly Baldwin